Oh Calamity
by FangedLovers
Summary: "It's such a shame that we play strangers, no act to change what we've become." Stiles/OC 5X11-12 'Tried & True Series'


Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf; only Cassidy and the world surrounding her.

Oh Calamity - All Time Low

 **Happy Season 5B Everybody!**

 **Thanks to everyone who read/reviewed/liked and all that stuff for Hold Onto Me!**

 **I don't have a lot to say since it's just starting out, but I'm glad to be back!**

 **So this story is based on 5X11-12 so SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE NEW EPISODES!**

 **Welcome Back to Cassidy Snyder's World!**

* * *

 **Oh Calamity**

 _We get older by the hour  
Watch the changes from afar  
Keep forgetting to remember  
Where we've been is who we are  
Now all I do is wonder  
Why we ever set the scene  
Oh, calamity_

 _It's such a shame that we play strangers_  
 _No act to change what we've become_  
 _Damn, it's such a shame that we've built a wreck out of me_  
 _Oh, calamity_

Growing up, Cassidy wasn't a child that was necessarily sheltered from things. Her parents of course always made sure she was safe, but for the most part they let her explore the world in her own way. Her mother showed her the arts. From movies to books to music, Teresa showed her the classics and let Cassidy's imagination or own preferences run free. And the young girl had a wild imagination. Most afternoons as kids involved Cassidy and Isaac playing a game of 'make believe' in the backyard, whether they played house or were the Princess and Prince of the land or just whatever game that day entailed.

Never in their creative world did they ever think some of their fairytales would turn out to be the real world.

"Just a few more steps, Lydia." Cassidy grunted out as she pulled Lydia along with her. She held Lydia's arm around her neck while Cassidy's left arm was around her waist, basically dragging the girl along with her, Lydia's feet shuffling.

Cassidy couldn't keep her up anymore and carefully lowered her best friend to the ground. She had lost the amount of time that they had been out there, all she knew was that the full moon was still very bright coming through the trees of the preserve. It had to be close to freezing outside, and neither of them were dressed warm enough to be out in the middle of the night with no way of getting ahold of anyone.

She sat down next to the catatonic girl, checking the gashes on the back of her neck. The bleeding had stopped, but that was the least of her concern. Lydia's eyes were open but it wasn't like she was actually looking at anything. She was immobile despite her breathing. Neither of them had their phones and there was no way to let anyone know they were out there. They would just keep on walking until they found something, or until someone came looking for them.

Theo and Travis basically left them for dead.

Everything that had happen earlier that evening was coming through her head like bad memories. But the thing was she couldn't decipher whether or not everything she saw was real. Travis did return because the bruising around her neck from him trying to suffocate her was very much burned into her skin, Travis and Theo did bring the two girls out to the Nemeton, but the rest became hazy. Did she really watch four dead teenagers come back to life? Four dead chimeras? No..no it had to be in her head. It had to do with the wolfsbane that Theo poisoned her with. But what if it was real?

Cassidy shook her head, trying to push the thoughts away. She needed to get them out of here.

"Alright, Lyd. Let's move a little bit further." She got to her feet, and as carefully as she could, pulled the strawberry blonde girl up to a standing position. Cassidy couldn't help the hiss that automatically came from her mouth as she draped the girl's arm back around her battered neck.

They walked a few more yards before Cassidy couldn't keep the girl up anymore. It probably wouldn't have been as hard to keep going if she wasn't freezing or weak from being bounded earlier. Cassidy saw a small shrub with some rocks up ahead. She made that her checkpoint and pushed herself to get there. Thankfully it didn't take too long, and she was able to lay Lydia back down.

"Honestly," Cassidy stood with her hands on her hips, catching her breath, "how the hell are we getting out of here?" She took a look around, but nothing looked familiar enough to say that was the way out. "I'm just going to take a look around, I'll be right back." She went to say don't move, but, well you know. Cassidy memorized the path she took, mostly staying in a straight line. She walked between trees, fallen branches, and whatever came in her path. She walked for a few more minutes before stopping.

She couldn't see anything in her line of sight. It was almost impossible to tell which way was the right way out of these woods. It's not like she spends so much time in the preserve that she would know her way out of here if she wanted to. She just needed to get Lydia and keep on walking in some direction until they made it somewhere. Anywhere.

Cassidy turned around and started her walk back to the spot she left Lydia. Some type of scratching noise echoed through the trees. "Lydia!" Cassidy's voice ringing through the trees. She started running now. The exhaustion in her body leaving, as pure anxiety took over.

The body of her best friend finally came back in sight, but as she took the last few strides something behind the girl's head took over her attention. Cassidy sucked in a deep breath at the sight of a bloody, etched star engraved into the rock. It wasn't just a regular star though, it was a sheriff's badge.

Cassidy dropped to her knees, carefully grabbing Lydia's hand, seeing her fingers bloody from scratching at the stone. What did it mean? It obviously couldn't have been good, given the fact that A) the girl was still withdrawn and B) at the heart of it she was a Banshee.

"Lydia, look at me." Cassidy's voice shook, her hands gently framed the girl's face trying to get some type of humanity out of her. "Lydia! Please, talk to me!" As no response came to her, the brunette sat back on her heels, tears burning at her eyes. "What am I supposed to do?" Cassidy cried now, her hands coming up to cover her face. "How am I supposed to help you?"

As Cassidy cried, visions of the past few days rolling through her head. Scott finding out about Donovan, to Theo poisoning her, to Stiles officially breaking, to Travis coming back. It was all just building up to much and she couldn't handle it anymore.

"HELP ME!" Cassidy dropped her head back and screamed at the top of her lungs. Despite her throat being hoarse from the swelling around her neck she kept going. Her voice at an ear-piercing volume, using everything that was left in her. "Someone! COME HELP ME!"

At her last screech, her body fell over. She laid on her side, head lying on the cold ground. Her eyes remained locked on to Lydia's face. Her screams did nothing to awake the girl. Cassidy didn't know how long she stayed there in the same position. The sound of leaves crunching made her body struggle into a sitting position.

"Cassidy?" A voice called out to her.

She squinted her blue eyes, seeing a body moving towards her body couldn't make out who it was. As the voice called her name again, Cassidy finally could make out the figure as Parrish. Her body deflated into relief as he ran to their sides.

"What happen to you guys?" He fell to Lydia's side, looking over the stone girl.

"It's a long story, but we got to get her out of here. She's completely unresponsive." Her voice scratched with the answer.

"She did this?" Parrish asked, looking at Lydia's fingers and then at the rock behind her.

Cassidy nodded. "It has to be a sign of the Sheriff. You haven't heard anything, have you?" Now that she knew they were going to be able to get out of the preserve, her worry unraveled at the thought of the Sheriff hurt.

"I haven't heard anything. Let's get the two of you out of here. Can you walk?"

"Yeah, just worry about Lydia." Cassidy staggered to a standing position watching as Parrish picked up Lydia in his arms with ease. There was a lot of stumbling, but she followed Parrish back through the forest. It took them about 15 minutes to get his truck. Cassidy sat in the back with Lydia laying down with her head in her lap. "Where are we going?" Cassidy asked Parrish once he was driving down the road at an illegal speed.

"We have to find Scott. He'll know what to do." The deputy nodded his head, trying to make himself believe that that was the right decision.

Cassidy stared out the window into the early morning hour before the sun was even up yet. The last time she had seen Scott they screamed at each other. The thought of the fight alone was making her blood boil, but Parrish was right. They needed his help.

They pulled up to the McCall house, seeing Scott's bike in the driveway. Parrish parked his truck and got out, opening the backdoor to pull Lydia into his arms. Cassidy jumped out of her side, running to the front door. Without knocking, Cassidy pushed the front door open, ushering Parrish inside.

"Hey Scott?" Cassidy called throughout the house, but no answer. "Scott?" The girl ascended up the stairs. She turned the corner to see Scott faced down on the floor. "Scott! Parrish, he's up here!" Cassidy dropped to her knees beside him, checking for a pulse in his neck.

"What happen?" Parrish came to the top of the steps, letting Lydia down on her feet. She just stood there looking off at nothing.

"Oh, you know, he just fell to the ground randomly. I don't know, Jordan!" She refused to put up with his stupid questions right now, too much anxiety flowing through her body. "Scott, come on! Wake up!" She continued to push his shoulder trying to get him to wake up.

The Alpha started to slowly move, pushing his upper body off the floor.

"Scott, are you okay?" She asked seeing a bright red stain in the middle of his white shirt.

He looked up at her with a look of what she guessed was surprise. "Yeah…yeah I'm fine."

"You're bleeding." Parrish spoke up, either ignoring the awkwardness between the two or not even feeling it.

Scott looked down at his shirt, pulling his jacket over the patch. "It's not that bad. What are you guys doing here?"

"We need your help."

"With what?"

Cassidy cleared her throat before pointing to the end of the hallway where Lydia still stood. "Theo left the two of us in the Preserve. He did something to Lydia, she has marks on the back of her neck." She pulled her body to a standing position while Parrish helped Scott up.

"I found the two of them in the middle of the woods. Lydia was freezing, she was practically hypothermic. That wasn't even the worst part."

"She basically carved a bloody, sheriff's badge with her nails." Cassidy described the scene she saw.

"It's a warning." Scott commented. "My mom called, the Sheriff is in the hospital. He was attacked."

Cassidy felt her heartbeat in her entire body at those words. "Is he okay? What happen?"

"I don't know, that's where I was headed before I passed out." His own eyes looking down to her neck. "What happen to you?"

"That doesn't matter right now, we got to get Lydia to the hospital." Cassidy walked away, wanting to avoid that subject for the time being. The three got into gear. The four of them got into the truck, Lydia laying down in Cassidy's lap again. She kept trying to get anything out of Lydia but she still wasn't paying attention.

Once they got to the hospital, Parrish took the catatonic girl back into his arms as they went running through the hallways yelling for help. Thankfully they got doctors to their side immediately with a stretcher.

"I've got an eighteen year old female, potentially hypothermic." Parrish gently laid Lydia down as the doctors began looking over her.

Cassidy felt Scott pulling on her hand to walk with him down the hallway, but she couldn't look away from Lydia. She had been with her all night, what if she left her now and something happen. What was going to happen to her best friend once she was out of sight?

"Cassidy, come on. We got to go see Mr. Stilinski, Parrish will look after her." Scott spoke softly to her, but her eyes wouldn't leave the girl.

"Cassidy." Parrish spoke up getting her attention. "I got her, I promise." He nodded at her, letting her know with just a look that if anything happen she would be the first to know.

She finally let Scott pull her to the elevator, the doors closing behind them. Once those doors were closed the atmosphere between the two of them became awkward at best. Scott lent against one wall while Cassidy was opposite him.

"I heard you, right before I fainted." Scott spoke up. The air between them so dense.

"What?" Cassidy whispered, raising an eyebrow.

"I heard you screaming for help right before I blacked out. Your voice, I don't know, it was just ringing through my head." Scott sucked in a deep breath, trying to relieve the pain in his chest as he leaned against the wall.

"How? I'm not anything supernatural." There was no way she was screaming anywhere near the range Lydia could.

"Because…because you're part of my pack. At least, I hope you still want to be."

Cassidy closed her eyes tight, the memory of her screaming at Scott running through her head. Before she could answer, the elevator doors opened bringing their conversation to a halt. The two walked out into the empty hallway. Cassidy could make out Stiles standing on the other side of the divider door, talking with Melissa and what it looked like to be Liam's dad, Dr. Geyer. Before she could get to him, Scott grabbed a hold of her wrist stopping her in his spot. She turned to question to him, when she saw why he stopped her. In the door to her right, she could see the Sheriff in the hospital bed, hooked up to so many wires and tubes. The sight made her breath catch in her throat.

Her attention turned back to the hallway when the divider door was swung hard against the wall. "Hey." She gave Stiles a soft smile but he totally ignored her. His focus was on Scott, and his entire body moving with a purpose. Cassidy jumped back as Stiles grabbed a hold of Scott's jacket and pushed him against the wall before throwing Scott on the floor with him on top.

"Where were you?" Stiles growled at the boy. "You trusted him, you believed him, right? So where were you?"

"Stiles!" Cassidy tried to pull him off of Scott but didn't have the strength. Melissa, Dr. Geyer and two officers came running down the hallway to them.

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU!" Stiles screamed, before being pulled off of him.

"Stop it!" Melissa yelled, helping her injured son off the floor.

"Hey, let him go." Cassidy tried to pull Stiles away from the doctor and one of the officers, and finally succeeded, but they didn't back away.

"Look, your dad's not the only one who got hurt." The alpha breathed out.

"Oh, you'll heal." Stiles rolled his eyes. That's when they noticed the giant red blood stain that was bleeding through Scott's shirt.

He himself took notice and quickly covered it up with his jacket. "I'm not talking about me." Scott moved his eyes quickly to Cassidy and then back.

Stiles looked down at the girl in front of him and finally looked her over. "What happen?" His eyes widened at the dark bruise that was wrapped around her throat. She tried to downplay it by shaking her head as if nothing was wrong, but he wasn't having it. "Who did this to you? Was it Theo? I swear to-"

"-Stiles!" She called over him, the strain hurting her throat. He saw her visible pain and his body shrunk, letting her take control. That dejection that she saw worried her, it was him fighting on a very thin line of giving up and being reckless. "Will you just come talk to me? Please?"

He nodded and let her take his hand. The couple left the rest behind as they walked down the hallway, finding an empty room to be alone in. As soon as the door was closed behind them, Cassidy turned around and wrapped her arms tightly around his body. That's when he broke, the anger he held was replaced by anguish and desperation. He cried into her shoulder as the comfort he needed the past few hours was enveloping him. Sure, he had Melissa, but this was different.

"I'm right here, love. I've got you." She let her right hand run up and down his back while the other smoothed the back of his hair. "What happen?"

"Fucking Theo happen." He pulled himself off her shoulder, wiping the stray tears off his cheeks. "My dad was attacked, and I found him bloody and barely alive in a basement. The surgery went well but now something is happening to him and no one knows what the fuck it is!" Stiles backed away from her as his anger started surging through his body again. He shook his head, wiping hard at his eyes. "What happen to you? Where have you been?"

"I think Theo tried to do the memory thing, with claws, to Lydia. And now she's unresponsive." Cassidy answered, completely ignoring her problems. That's what she does. "He left us out in the woods all night until Parrish came looking for us." She shook her head, her own tears prickling at her eyes. "I should have been able to get her out of there, but I couldn't and now she's probably worse off."

Stiles went gently held her face in his hands. "This isn't your fault, Cas. Alright, this is all Theo. Let's go see her okay?" This is a perfect example of the both of them trying to pick the other back up.

She nodded, getting her composure back together. The couple searched through the hospital until they found Lydia's room. The two walked in, finding Ms. Martin sitting at her bedside, but when she turned to look at them fire was burning through her eyes at the teens.

"No, no you don't." Ms. Martin stood up to face them. "The two of you are not coming in here. Get out!" She walked over to where the two of them came to stand at the end of Lydia's bed.

"Just wait, I know who did this." Stiles spoke up first. "I just need to look at the back of her neck."

"I know who did this. You! All of you!" She pushed Stiles who in turn bumped back into Cassidy.

"Wait, Ms. Martin, please." Cassidy moved around him, looking at the mother. "I was with her alright, I tried to save her!"

"No, Cassidy. All you did was ruin her by bringing her into this messed up world! Get out!" She pushed them again.

"Just look at the back of her neck!" Stiles yelled again and again, as they were completely pushed out of the room and the door closed in their faces. "Tell me what really happen tonight?" He turned to his girlfriend.

"I'd rather have this conversation with everyone so I don't have to go over it twice."

Stiles, her, Scott, Melissa, and Parrish all grouped together in one of the vacant rooms.

"It could be a side-effect of shock." Parrish commented on Lydia's wellbeing.

"She's catatonic. It was Theo digging his way through her mind." Stiles informed him.

"Why would he do that? What is he looking for?" Melissa asked.

Scott spoke up. "The same thing he's always looking for; advantage."

"He wanted to know I'm guessing where the Nemeton was and then left us out there." Cassidy said the bare minimum, still not knowing if what she saw was a side-effect of the wolfsbane.

"So what did he gain by trying to kill Stilinski?" Parrish questioned.

"He left me alone with Liam." Scott recalled. "Theo wanted to make sure that nobody would stop him from killing me."

"What?" Cassidy spat out, surprised by the words he just said. Why would Liam do that?

"So he gutted my dad as a distraction." Stiles spoke up, leaving the last question in the air.

"We need to find this kid." Parrish was ready for revenge.

"Isn't that a little dangerous especially since he almost killed my kid?" Melissa was ready to fight anyone but after watching her son almost die, things were different.

"But what," Stiles thought things over, "he said he didn't want my dad to die."

"And you believe him?" The hellhound grilled.

"He told me where to find him, so maybe he also knows how to save him."

Cassidy stood back, chewing on the skin around her thumb, wondering if she should bring up her evening or not.

"What do you want to do? Talk to him?" Melissa asked like he was out of his mind.

"If it save my dad, then yeah."

"I'll come with you." Scott announced. "He doesn't know that I'm alive, maybe that gives us an advantage."

"No, he'll no you're there." He started walking towards the door. "I just need to talk to him, not fight him."

"Stiles, wait!" Her voice echoed in the small room. All of their heads turning to the girl.

"What?" He turned back around, but she still hesitated. "I know you're hiding something, Cas. Like the bruise around your neck. What happen?"

She gained as much confidence as she could get within her, which was very low at the moment given the fact that she hadn't been on her correct medication in days. "Travis is out of jail. Theo broke him out, so he came to my house and tried to choked me, until surprisingly enough Theo showed up to stop him."

"How did-"

"I'm not done." She cut off her boyfriend knowing if she stopped now she wouldn't start back up. "Theo has been changing out my medication with wolfsbane, so those visions I've been having weren't all from the book. He's been poisoning me." She could still feel all their concerned eyes on her but she continued to face the table that they were circling. "Now here's the part where I'm a little iffy on. Travis and Theo took Lydia and I to the Nemeton, that I'm certain about since I was the one pulling us out of the woods. But in my head…I saw Theo bring back to life 4 chimeras."

"What?" Scott asked the girl standing next to him. "How is that even possible?"

"I don't know especially since the rest of them were burned like Parrish had done." She gestured to the hellhound. "That's why I think it was all in my head, I was just having another 'vision' I guess."

"That just make him more devious and dangerous." Melissa spoke first. "Especially if he broke a psycho out of jail."

Stiles looked angrier than he was before. "He's not getting away with this. I need to find him."

"Stiles, you can't go alone."

"Does anyone even know how to find him?" Parrish interrogated.

"We don't have to find him, he'll come to me." Stiles stormed out of the door.

Scott and Cassidy both looked at each other before storming after him. "Stiles, we're coming with you." Cassidy called to him, the two walking behind him as they made their way through the hospital.

"After what he's done to you already you are definitely not coming with me."

"Stiles, just let us help you." Scott spoke up.

The two were able to catch up with him as he waited for the elevator. Cassidy moved around so she was in front of the door and all he could do was look at her. "We're coming with you. We can help. All I'm asking is that you take us to at least talk to him, then drop me off at my house and I'll come straight back here to stay with your dad." She spoke softly, giving him the best puppy dog eyes she could muster up at the moment. "Please."

The elevator chimed and the doors opened. Stiles took a deep breath, not liking this situation. "Fine."

The three hurried to Scott's house as Stiles got a hold of Theo to meet him there. It would be easier to play off the dead best friend card if he had the shirt that Scott 'died' in. As they got ready in the house, the question of why Liam had even done this in the first place kept popping up in her head.

"He's here." Scott's head faced to the ground, listening as he heard Theo's truck pull into the driveway.

Stiles nodded, fisting the shirt in his hand. "Okay, I'll go talk to him. The both of you stay up here." His body moving towards the door.

"Stiles." Cassidy called out, stopping him in the door way of the bedroom.

The boy turned to see the worry that was etched across her face. "I'll be safe." His free hand tucked her loose hair behind her ear. "Just promise me you will stay up here."

She couldn't answer, just simply nodded. All of her emotions wavering at this point. Stiles gave her a soft kiss on the forehead before walking out of the room.

Scott took this moment to step forward, letting his hand rest against her back, giving her a smile as Cassidy looked up at him. The two of them swiftly moved down the hallway to the wall that they could hide behind at the beginning of the staircase. Scott made sure he was directly at the corner so if something did happen he could be the first to react.

It was quite a few moments before the two heard any talking from the boys on the bottom floor.

"I guess we're all telling the truth now." Theo spoke, looking back at the line of mountain ash he stepped over before turning back to Stiles who was sitting on the steps.

Cassidy tried to calm her heart beat that was hammering out of her chest, but the sound of Theo's voice made her blood raise in anger. Scott must had heard it as well and grabbed a hold of her hand, trying to calm the girl down.

Stiles grabbed Scott's bloody shirt and threw it at Theo as he saw the boy's eyes move up the staircase like he knew the two of them were hiding. "Did you kill my best friend?"

"Let's be honest, Stiles," Theo smirked, "is he still really your best friend?"

Stiles skipped the question, and moved on to one of the more pressing issues he had. "You've been poisoning my girlfriend and then left her for dead in the middle of the woods?"

"I didn't leave her for dead."

"You're right, let me back up." Stiles stood from his spot on the steps. "You released the guy that tried to kill her from jail, then he tried to kill her again, and _then_ you both left her for dead in the woods."

Theo shrugged. "Like you said earlier, I've been poisoning her so how do you know any of that is true?"

"The bruises on her neck say differently don't they." That wasn't a question. Stiles was ready to strangle Theo himself, for being the person at the start for hurting the most important people in his life.

"Come on, Stiles. Let's talk truth here. Those two are the least of your concern, am I right? Why did you really ask me here?"

"You gonna let me father die?"

"If I wanted him to die I wouldn't have told you where to find him." Theo threw the shirt aside.

"They why are they saying his body's shutting down?" Stiles asked. Cassidy watched as Scott turned his head as if he heard something at the question. "That some toxin is poisoning him, and they don't know how to stop it."

"I'm not the bad guy, Stiles." Cassidy couldn't help the eye roll as the comment. "I'm just a realist. I'm a survivor. If you knew the things that I know-"

"Yeah, well what do you know?" Stiles cut him off, shrugging his shoulders as if he didn't believe a word he was saying.

"I know what's coming. I know what the Dread Doctors created. And I know what Parrish is." Theo held such a confidence that it made sense how they didn't know he had been lying to them the entire time. "Lydia figured it out. I saw it in her memories."

"Right after you drove her out of her mind."

"Collateral damage. But if she's right about Parrish, the things around here are going to get a lot worse."

Stiles shook his head in defeat. "I don't care."

"You should! Because if you're dad does survive he's not going to Sheriff of anything much longer."

"What's happening to him?" Stiles asked again, but still didn't get answer. As Theo turned to walk away, Stiles came at him. "Hey, tell me!"

Once Cassidy heard a loud thump on the steps, Scott couldn't hold her back as she rounded the corner. Her eyes enlarged at the sight of Stiles laying back on the stairs but no Theo in sight. "Stiles!" The girl bellowed and ran down the steps, Scott right on her heels.

"Stiles, wake up!" Cassidy kneeled on the steps, going through her routine of checking his breathing and pulse. "Stiles! Come on, wake up!" Her hands shook his body softly but he still didn't move. "Scott, what do we do?" She looked up at the Alpha that was standing behind her.

Scott shook his head, worry written on his face. "Stiles! Stiles!"

Cassidy's breathing slowed as she watched those muddy brown eyes finally open. Stiles looked at Cassidy with confusion but as he started to get up reality began sinking in again.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Scott stammered out, giving his best friend a hand but had it pushed away.

"I'm fine." Stiles grumbled out and got to his feet.

"You just blacked out." Cassidy stood up as well, looking at her boyfriend as if she was waiting for him to fall over.

"I'm okay." He shook his head, ignoring their worries. "Did you get anything from him?"

Scott shook his head. "Nothing, he was calm the entire time."

"Which is quite unnerving by the way." Cassidy looked back and forth from the two.

"What about his heart?"

"I heard it jump but only once, and only for a second."

"That doesn't mean he was lying right? That could mean something else?" Cassidy asked the werewolf.

"It could. The rest of the time it was steady."

"When did it jump?" Stiles questioned. "What was I talking about?"

Scott took a second to replay the conversation in his head. "It was when you said your dad was poisoned."

"That could be something. A jump could mean surprise, right?"

"Yeah, I think so." Scott nodded.

"Okay, so why would he be surprised on something he clearly knew about?" Cassidy's eyes rolled around trying to put the puzzle pieces together like the two boys were doing.

"Oh, wait." Scott's eyes grew in realization. "He didn't say he was the one that attacked your dad, did he?"

"No." Stiles whispered. "Which means it was probably someone else."

"Another Chimera." Scott put the final piece together.

Stiles ran his hands over the back of his neck, everything running through his mind on over drive. "Alright, let's go." He grabbed Cassidy's hand and pulled her out of the house, not once looking back. "Get in the passenger seat." Stiles told Cassidy as they made it to the car. The two of them got in but as Scott went to open the back door Stiles locked the car.

"Babe, don't do this." Cassidy looked over to the boy in the driver's seat.

"Stiles?" Scott stood at the passenger window now.

"I can do the rest myself." Stiles said, not looking at either of them.

"You don't even know where to start, all we know is that it's another chimera. Do you even know where you're headed?"

"Just open the door." Cassidy wasn't taking sides, but she knew Stiles was being overdramatic and really needed the help that he refused to take.

"Come on, let me help. I can find the clues that you can't."

Stiles ignored him and put the car in drive. As he went to pull out, Scott came to stand in front of the car, making the break quickly not to hit him.

"Oh my God." Cassidy shrunk in her seat, folding a hand over her eyes so she didn't have to see this outcome.

"You can't do this alone, okay. You need me, you need all of us. I can get more help, I can text Liam-"

"Liam just tried to kill you." Stiles responded with almost humor at the ridiculous statement.

"Okay, then at least let me help." Scott was desperate for his best friend to believe that he actually wanted to help.

"You believed him?" Stiles finally brought up the fight between them at hand. Theo had severed ties between almost all of them.

"You trusted him too." Scott pointed out. "Theo got to all of us."

"You don't even know the real story." Stiles whispered, making Cassidy surprised Scott even heard it.

"I don't need to. All that matters right now is your dad."

Cassidy wanted to keep herself out of their talk, but it always upset her to see Stiles hurting. She rested her hand on his thigh, trying to give him some comfort in the situation. "Just give him a chance"

"Come on, Stiles," Scott continued, "We survived an alpha pack, a dark druid, and professional assassins. We can survive dread doctors and chimeras too."

Something Scott said must have struck with Stiles because he sat for a few seconds, his eyes flitting back and forth. The same way he does when he gets a lead. "We're not looking for a missing chimera, we're looking for a missing teenager."

Cassidy's eyes drifted back and forth between the boys. "So does that mean you'll take his help?"

"Just to save my dad." Stiles unlocked the door and waited as Scott ran around the side to jump in the backseat before Stiles changed his mind. "So where to?"

"Dropping Cassidy off first, which I still don't think is a good idea." Stiles mumbled, irritated with the fact having to leave her alone again.

They made it to her house quickly enough, noticing that her family was still at her grandparents. As Cassidy went to move out of the car, Stiles followed right behind her. "Stiles, seriously, I'm fine." She gave Scott a quick nod goodbye before closing the door.

"And I know you'll be fine when I check the house first." He followed behind her.

She stopped by her car first to grab the bag she should have had with her the night before when all this started. As soon as she opened the door the visions of last night all coming back to her. The feeling of a hand on her waist made her jump in place.

"I'm sorry." Stiles quickly took his hand away.

"No, it's me." Cassidy turned around looking up at him. "My mind just went back to last night."

"Come on." He held out his hand for her to take and the two went upstairs. After checking each room, they ended in her bedroom with a little bit of ease in them at the empty house. "Everything looks good." Stiles checked her closet just in care.

"It's not like I'm going to be staying here long today anyways." She pulled off the sweatshirt that she had been wearing for the past three days now.

"I still don't like this idea." He stood with his hands on his hips, a very Stiles' thing to do when he didn't approve.

"I'm going to get a shower, grab something to eat, and head straight back to the hospital to be with your dad and Lyd." She stood right in front of him now.

He gave her a soft smile, eyes moving from hers to the bruising around her neck. It was even more prominent now with the tank top not hiding her skin. "Does it hurt?" His fingers very gently traced the ugly marks.

"Little bit." She watched him start to over-think again as he still stared at her neck. "I'm going to be okay." She grabbed his hands and held them in hers. "Everything is going to turn out okay. We'll figure it out."

He nodded, believing in her. Stiles leaned down to give her a soft kiss. "Text me when you leave and then when you get to the hospital."

"I will. I'll let you know if anything changes with your dad." The two said goodbye and went their own ways. Cassidy finally got a shower and changed her clothes after the third day of being in the same outfit. She didn't want to stay at the house long, given that she didn't want to be alone there period. She left a note on the counter for when her family got back, grabbed her phone, charger, and bag and was out the door. She stopped quickly at a fast food joint to get something edible before she was off to the hospital.

As she was walking back through the hospital she saw Parrish following behind EMTs, Ms. Martin, and a stretcher with who she assumed was Lydia on it. "Parrish!" She yelled, running down the hallway to meet up with them as they went outside to the ambulance. "Parrish, what's going on?" She asked, looking up at the deputy as her best friend was transported into the ambulance.

"They're taking her to Eichen House." He said angrily.

"What!" Her voice was a shout, getting the attention of others walking around them. "Ms. Martin, you can't do this." She pleaded with the mother.

"This is none of your business, Cassidy." Ms. Martin's tone was icy cold towards the girl she once welcomed into Lydia's life.

"How can you send her to the same place where her grandmother was killed? Please don't do this!"

She simply ignored the young girl this time and got into the ambulance herself.

"I'm going to find a way to get her out of there." Parrish told the mother. "Even if I have to break through the walls."

That's when the doors where closed by the doctor from Eichen. "Good luck with that deputy." He smirked at the two and moved to get into the passenger seat.

"What do we do now?" Parrish asked the younger girl as she watched her best friend get carted away to the worst place for her.

"I don't know."

She could honestly say she had no idea of what to actually to do. Everything was a mess. All of her friends were fighting or taken away from them. This was exactly what Theo wanted. She hated to say it but at the moment he was winning. She sat in the waiting room, not thinking, not moving, just zoned out. She was beyond exhausted, but couldn't bring herself to nap. She was battling through the dark thoughts in her head that kept wanting to take over her body. And she was trying her hardest to keep them at bay, but it was getting tougher and tougher.

"Why are you always here?" Melissa asked with a small smile, sitting down in the empty seat next to her.

"I'm thinking about taking up nursing." Cassidy cleared her throat and sat up in her seat. Melissa rose an eyebrow at her sarcasm, and waited for her real answer. "I can't go home."

"Why can't you?"

"Well for one, I'm terrified to be in my house alone, and two, I can't leave knowing his life's in jeopardy."

"Are you sure there's not something else going on?" Melissa could always read these kids like an open book. "Cassidy, you can talk to me sweetie. What is it?"

"Theo…with him changing my pills I haven't had a real dose in I don't know how long, and I can't get another prescription until the end of the month, and it's getting really harder and harder to control my emotions-"

"Cassi," the older woman cut her off, "do you need me to get you some medication?"

She looked up through her lashes at her. "If you can. I know that's the last problem that needs to be brought up with everything else that's going on."

"I'll go get you some sweetheart. You don't have to worry about that anymore." She gave the younger girl a squeeze on the shoulder and went off to find her some medication.

Cassidy didn't know how long she had sat there in the waiting room. She tried to read, but couldn't concentrate on the words on the page. She was currently counting the blue squares on the floor compared to the white ones, when her counting was interrupted. Cassidy pulled out her phone from her pocket as it started vibrating. The sight of Stiles' photo made her anxious of what conversation would take place. "Hello?"

"It's a bone fragment!" Stiles almost shouted through the phone.

"What?" She stood form her seat, immediately looking for Melissa again.

"It was a chimera berserker that attacked him. And I'm pretty positive there's a piece of bone still in him!"

That's all she needed to hear to get her ass in gear. After a few more hours of surgery and anesthesia, The Sheriff was doing better. Dr. Geyer found the small piece of bone.

* * *

The facts were true, she did spend too much time in the hospital. The only time she wasn't there was the few hours she was told to go home to get some rest, but other than that she was stationed in the Sheriff's hospital room next to Stiles. Spending time at home wasn't an option since she was trying to avoid the awkward conversation that she knew had to take place with her family. The topic of Travis would not turn out well under that roof.

So for now she sat in one of the most uncomfortable chairs ever. Stiles sat next to her, passed out on her shoulder. Others would be annoyed by the puffs of hot air that were breathed on her neck, but she found it soothing. The Sheriff and his son have both been asleep for the majority of the morning, if not longer at this point. She was fine with that as she read through one of her new books she could finally concentrate on.

The sound of rustling came from next to her. Cassidy looked over to see The Sheriff starting to sit up slowly in bed.

"Do you need my help?" She whispered so she wouldn't wake the boy on her shoulder.

"I thought you were asleep?" Stilinski groaned out as he got to his feet.

"It's far too quiet for me to sleep." She showed him the book in her lap as proof.

He grabbed the cane they had given him to walk around with as he heals. "Come take a walk with me."

Cassidy gently maneuvered her way out from under Stiles so that he stayed asleep. She dropped her book on the chair and followed him out of the room.

"You're son is going to be livid at the both of us for leaving." She commented, sticking her hands in her front pockets.

"Not something that either of us aren't used to dealing with on a daily basis." He smiled, leading them towards the elevator.

"Where are we going?"

"With all the new chimeras found the other night, I want to take a look for myself." He ushered her into the elevator before himself.

That was another thing that had happen lately. The police found the dour bodies that were left at the Nemeton. This meant she wasn't completely out of her mind that a few bodies were missing from the spot. But that also meant Donovan was found, and that made her anxiety increase.

"So are you going to tell me what happen or do I just have to guess?" The Sheriff asked her out of the blue.

"About what?" She looked at him with her eyebrows raised. Did he know about her being involved with Donovan?

"The discolored bruises around your neck. Did you really think I wasn't going to notice?"

Her heart beat calmed down slightly at the different subject, but she still felt self-conscience. Cassidy had worn one of Stiles hoodies to hopefully hide the damage but a hood can only hide so much. "I was sort of hoping you would."

The elevator opened to the basement where the morgue was placed. "Years of police work, sweetheart." The two walked through the swinging doors. "So what happen?"

"Promise if I tell you, you'll keep your heart rate down?"

"Cassidy, you know I can't promise that." He sat down on one of the metal stools that were at the table. "If someone hurt you, I will do everything in my power to protect you."

She stood across the table from him, contemplating on how to talk about it. "Travis is out of jail."

"What?" His eyes widened, not expecting that to come out of her mouth. "How?"

"Theo broke him out. I'm still not entirely sure why, but it has to do something with Scott I'm guessing."

"And he did this to you?" The Stilinski anger that ran through the family flowing through his own body.

She nodded with tears surfacing. She was at the point where tears starting coming to her for no real reason. "He tried to strangle me." She touched her tender neck, wishing it would go away.

"We're going to find him, Cassidy. I will not let him hurt you again." He was desperate for a way to help her. His problems meant nothing if one of his kids were hurt. And Cassidy was a part of his family, no doubt in his mind.

"I don't," the tears started to fall down her cheeks, "I don't want to live in fear of him. Sure he has a restraining order and he is on the run but that means nothing when the supernatural is involved."

"That just means we're going to have to work harder to trap him, but we'll do it." He leaned across the table and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I'm going to protect you, Cassidy."

"But what am I supposed to do 'til then?" She wiped at her eyes.

"You're going to be the strong woman I know you are. You are going to battle him with your head held high and not let him run over you. Can you do that?"

She nodded her head quickly. Her training with Braeden surfacing to her mind. She wasn't going to let this boy bring down her greatest strengths.

The Sheriff left her side, allowing her to regain her composure as he looked at the IDs on each of the bins in the walls. He stopped moving as his eyes landed on one of the names. Cassidy could see Donovan's name printed out as he pulled the slab out of the wall. It became harder to breath when she saw the outline of the body under the sheet. She didn't say anything but watched as he pulled back the sheet far enough so he could see something before putting it back in place. He didn't move, it was like he was trying to come to terms with things.

The two looked over as the door swung open and Stiles appeared. "Hey…what's going on?" He looked back and forth from the two of them.

"We're just having a talk." His dad replied, looking over at Cassidy and then back to the body.

Cassidy nodded, wiping the last bit of tears off her face as she walked over with Stiles to the other side of the slab. Everything they had been running from, everything they tried to put behind them they were now face to face with.

"The story Theo told me about the library, that's how it happen?" He questioned his son. "Except it didn't happen to him."

Stiles nodded ready to take responsibility. "Yeah."

He bobbed his head. "The only thing I don't understand is how you fit in to play, Cassidy. Because the card reader said you were also there."

"I heard yelling, so I ran into the library. That's when Donovan was attacking him, I yelled to get his attention to give Stiles time to get away from him…and the rest you know." She recounted that night over and over in her mind.

"She didn't do anything though. She really had no part in this." Stiles once again tried to keep any of the blame off of her.

"Stiles, I can't protect you if I don't know the truth." The Sheriff spoke softly. "Did you really feel like you couldn't tell me?"

"I couldn't tell anyone." His eyes kept landing back on Donovan's body.

"Did you think that I wouldn't believe it was self-defense?"

"But what if it wasn't? What if I told you I wanted him dead?" All of his thoughts finally spilling out.

"I believe you. I also believe that wanting someone dead and murdering them are two very different things." Stilinski spoke with his determination in his voice trying to get him to understand that.

"Yeah, well what if the judge didn't think so?"

"The hell with the judge. Stiles, it was self-defense and I would destroy every shred of evidence to protect you if I had to. I would burn the whole sheriff's station to the ground." The two Stilinski's pushed the slab back into the spot.

"What about upholding the law?"

"What about Kira?" Cassidy asked, missing her sword wielding friend.

The Sheriff shook his head with guilt. "Kira was a mistake. I guess I'm learning how to bend."

Stiles tapped his fingers against his leg anxiously. "So, what? It just goes away?"

"No for you. Problem now is how to bury this burden. This kind of thing is not at all uncommon in law enforcement. A fatal mistake. A partner who dies. One who gets paralyzed. Stiles, you carry that with you and sometimes it doesn't truly feel okay again until there's a kinda counterbalance."

"Like what?"

"Like instead of taking a life, you manage to save one." He hoped this would get through to his son. "Something like that can help. And maybe only for a moment. Look the real conflict you're having now is between your head and your heart. Your head knows that the only crime you committed is surviving, but your heart still thinks it was murder. So you gotta get your heart to catch up to your head."

Cassidy could see his tears coming and gently locked their fingers together to go some sort of relief. It was something about him being able to feel her skin that brought him back down to solid ground and giving him the confidence to talk again. "I feel like it's more than guilt though, you know? I feel like…like I lost something. I feel like I can't get it back."

"You won't." The Sheriff hesitated but knew he needed to say it. "Not entirely. But you get a little bit by forgiving yourself. And since that's not always the easiest thing to do in the world you start by forgiving someone else. Someone who probably really needs it."

"Someone like Scott?" Stiles asked, wiping the tears away.

The Sheriff nodded. "Yeah. It also helps having a person there that regardless of the things that happen in your life, they'll stick by you." He gave a small smile looking over at Cassidy then back towards his son. "When everything went down with Donovan's dad and my own guilt, I had your mom. She supported me and understood, I guess, on how to help me through it. She knew when to push me from behind or when to-"

"-When to stand beside you." Stiles finished his father's sentence. The fight that he heard between Cassidy and Scott over him still ringing through his head. He had been fighting such an internal war with himself for so long, he sometimes forgot that Cassidy had been with him the night that Donovan died. The fact that she saw the whole scene and was the one who had been trying to help him for so long.

The father nodded. "And you know why she did that?"

"Because she wanted to help you fight your battles despite anything that could also hurt her." Cassidy answered, another stray tear falling down. "No judgement." Everything he was saying was exactly how she felt for Stiles.

"I don't say this to the two of you often, or maybe at all." The Sheriff snickered slightly at the thought. "But I am very pleased that the two of you found each other. Regardless of everything that happen at the beginning of this year. I love the both of you very much, and I'm going to do my hardest to make sure nothing happens to either of you." The two kids nodded before they were pulled into a group hug by the father. "The next thing we do is get Travis and send him far, far away." The three let go of each other.

Stiles agreed, ready to move on. "Maybe you should stay with us. He thinks you're going to be at your house."

"Stiles, I'm not leaving my family alone if that's what he thinks. I really don't even know what he's capable of anymore." Cassidy shrugged, running a hand through her hair. "The only thing that might be remotely safe for them is getting out of town."

"Then let's get them out of town."

"You try telling my mother that." She looked up at her boyfriend like he was crazy.

"She'll listen to me." The Sheriff spoke up. "Sheriff's order, right?"

"I'm here to see Lydia Martin." Cassidy stood at the front desk of Eichen House. She was determined to get something out of these people even if she had to come back daily.

"I'm sorry, but that patient is not allowed to have guests." The male attendant said to her, not even looking up at her.

"Well can you at least tell me if she's okay?" Her fingers tapped on the counter.

"I'm not allowed to give out that information."

"Fine." She pushed back from the desk. "I'll just be back tomorrow and the next day until I get something out of you."

The attendant looked at her, finally, staring straight in her eyes. "You can come back every day if you wish but that won't change the fact that your friend is locked in here, and you have no control of that."

She glared at him one more time before turning on her heel and heading out the door of this horrendous place. She wasn't going to stop though until she got Lydia out of here.

Cassidy pushed open the gate with a sigh, spinning her keys around on her finger. What was her next step now? Her body immediately stopped in place at seeing Travis sitting on the hood of her car. She thought the next time she would see him she would be scared, terrified even. But that emotion was nowhere to be found. All she felt was rage as she stared at the boy sitting on her car, smoking one of his cigarettes.

"Looking to see if they had a room available for you?" Travis asked, smoke billowing from his mouth as he spoke.

"Actually I was asking them how much I had to pay them to sentence you here for life." She crossed her arms and stood a few feet away from her car.

Travis chuckled and slid off the hood. "If I'm being honest I wasn't expecting you to be so confident around me."

"Honesty's not really a look I associate with you, so excuse me for not being surprised."

"He rolled his eyes before crushing his cigarette on the ground. "You about done with the sarcasm spewing form your mouth?"

"As soon as you decided to leave my life for good, then I'll be done."

"Goddamn it, Cassidy! Why do you have to be so damn problematic?" Travis raised his arms up in annoyance at the girl standing in front of him.

"Are you kidding me right now? Me? I'm the one being problematic?" She pointed hard at her chest. Her voice was getting higher and it was straining her bruised neck. "I'm not the one who tried to kill me. Twice!"

"Really? Are we really still going to use that?"

"You say it like it's not some big deal." The thought alone almost made laugh at the madness of it. "Okay, I get it your mad about your brother being killed, but why do you have such vengeance for me when I really didn't do anything to you?"

Travis rolled his eyes, huffing in frustration. "Everything is not about you, Cassidy."

"I understand why you wanted to get to Scott through me, but there was more than that. You sought me out more times than not. So what about that?"

"Here's an idea, Cassidy. Why don't you start worrying about the real problem in this town now? Because we're only humans, so you better hope you got an arsenal ready."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She uncrossed her arms, ready to attack if need be.

"It means there is something bigger and badder out there right now. And it's going to take a lot for any of us to stop it."

"Well good luck with that but I'm not helping you. In fact I'm going to do everything in my power to expose you."

"What are you trying to say, Alice?" He mocked her with the reference.

"It means you stared a war, and I'm going to finish it."

* * *

 **There's a war in town, and Travis and Cassidy are in the center of it!**

 **I'm very excited where this season is going to go!**

 **Thanks for everything everybody! Make sure you are following my Tumblr for more Styder!**

 **And if you could review that would be swell!**


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